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AMANDA KEARNS-RULTON
Imagine a world where death was discussed openly without the conversation being uncomfortable. A world where graveyards are inviting, colourful and a place you’d want to go to instead of places you rarely visit. This imagined world is a possibility as we navigate a more sustainable future for death care.
This project was established in an attempt to understand how damaging, if damaging at all, current funeral practices are and what exactly happens to the environment when you die. The future of death care in the UK is not clear but one thing that is clear, a move towards environmentally sustainable funerals would encourage healthier relationships with loss.
We can not change the past of the death care industry but we can change the now. Simple changes to the landscapes of existing burial grounds could be a good place to start.
Home: About the Project
RESTING PLACES FOR THE LIVING
When looking around my local cemeteries and graveyards a number of things became apparent.
With the exception of trees there is a complete lack of plants and flowers being grown.
Grey in tone cemeteries are not the most welcoming of places
There are not very many opportunities to sit down.
Of course this is not true for all cemeteries and graveyards but on the whole, why are they so grey? whilst there are a growing number of green burial sites and conservation cemeteries in the UK, many cemeteries and graveyards are disused or run down. in maintained and used cemeteries rows of old graves stand toward the edge of the grounds as if they too are unwelcome in a sea of marble headstones and immaculately cut grass. Boxed in by walls and guarded by gates it almost as we are isolating death. Making it unwelcome and creating a time and a place to deal with it. This creates a disconnect, which could negatively impact on our mental health and wellbeing, especially when we are then faced with a loss.
Cemeteries and graveyards provide essential green spaces within cities, if we make them more welcoming we can begin to breakdown barriers and taboos around death. My goal with this project is to create spaces of beauty within local cemeteries and graveyards. Places where everyone can enjoy, rest and make meaningful connections with the environment.
Home: Body
MEMORIAL MIX
Rewilding efforts provide habitats that allow wildlife to flourish in the face of climate change whilst encouraging native wildlife to return to areas. The flowers included in my memorial mix have been collected from four wildflower sights in Liverpool. Wildflower meadows create habitats by providing essential food sources, shelter and nectar for a multitude of insects and essential pollinators such as bees and butterflies. The bright colours of the flowers will also attract bees and butterflies. I took the time to study the seeds I collected and selected all of flowers and plants for their low maintenance and wide spreading qualities. These mixes not only provide habitats for wildlife but also encourage the public to engage with nature. Planting your own memorial garden in your garden can create a bridge between nature and death that can be proactive in changing both attitudes and landscapes. Using similar wildflowers in graveyards would encourage people to visit and would enable life to thrive in the face of death.
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POETRY
Writing poetry has been instrumental in my own experiences of grief. Navigating the feelings of loss are hard no matter how prepared you are and no two experiences of grief will be the same. Through poetry I have been able to explore my own relationships with death, my own misconceptions and my own feelings surrounding loss. Poetry has been a means to approach loss for many years and in many cultures. Death is performative in the way it demands to be seen. death requires an audience and poetry is one way I have chosen to explore this.
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